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Astronomy Picture for Today
nasa ^
| 03/01/2006
| DG
Posted on 03/01/2006 12:26:19 PM PST by HOTTIEBOY
The Colorful Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
Credit: Adam Block (KPNO Visitor Program), NOAO, AURA, NSF>
The many spectacular colors of the Rho Ophiuchi (oh'-fee-yu-kee) clouds highlight the many processes that occur there. The blue regions shine primarily by reflected light. Blue light from the star Rho Ophiuchi and nearby stars reflects more efficiently off this portion of the nebula than red light. The Earth's daytime sky appears blue for the same reason. The red and yellow regions shine primarily because of emission from the nebula's atomic and molecular gas. Light from nearby blue stars - more energetic than the bright star Antares - knocks electrons away from the gas, which then shines when the electrons recombine with the gas. The dark regions are caused by dust grains - born in young stellar atmospheres - which effectively block light emitted behind them. The Rho Ophiuchi star clouds, well in front of the globular cluster M4 visible above on far lower left, are even more colorful than humans can see - the clouds emits light in every wavelength band from the radio to the gamma-ray.
TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; space
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Want an idea of how big these things are?
At the far lower left, the bright object is a starcluster in the foreground!
1
posted on
03/01/2006 12:26:20 PM PST
by
HOTTIEBOY
To: KevinDavis; fnord; Michael Goldsberry; rdb3; MNJohnnie; thoughtomator; Woman on Caroline Street; ...
ping
2
posted on
03/01/2006 12:26:58 PM PST
by
HOTTIEBOY
(The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.)
To: HOTTIEBOY
3
posted on
03/01/2006 12:30:55 PM PST
by
BigFinn
To: HOTTIEBOY
4
posted on
03/01/2006 12:33:24 PM PST
by
meanie monster
(http://guptonator.myvideochat.net)
To: HOTTIEBOY
Just to the right of center in the pic - that looks like a face or skull. Is it proof of the existence of an alien civilization or Satan?
5
posted on
03/01/2006 12:39:01 PM PST
by
The_Victor
(If all I want is a warm feeling, I should just wet my pants.)
To: The_Victor
Its Jesus, sell it on EBay!
To: The_Victor
kinda looks like the pic of my daughter's ultrasound of her 12 week baby...
7
posted on
03/01/2006 12:42:14 PM PST
by
queenkathy
(My idea of rebooting is kicking somebody in the butt twice)
To: The_Victor
I do that same thing with the wallpaper in my bathroom.
To: SF Republican
Its Jesus, sell it on EBay! You may be on to something. But instead of selling it we need to convince the same people who see Jesus and/or Mary in every water stain that we have to get there somehow to see Jesus. That'll get the space program rolling....
9
posted on
03/01/2006 12:53:14 PM PST
by
The_Victor
(If all I want is a warm feeling, I should just wet my pants.)
To: HOTTIEBOY; All
Gotta question...
These pics you post, showing the illuminated gases, if there was a planet in the interior of the gaseous region...judging by the size of the clouds in some pics, a vast area in space is consumed, would a planet be able to have an atmosphere if the said planet was in this cloud?? I do not know if the question is possible to answer, but if it is, and there are other planets with atmospheres(regardless of the make up) could it be they maintain stability with this surrounding element creating the glow??
10
posted on
03/01/2006 1:02:53 PM PST
by
sit-rep
(If you acquire, hit it again to verify...)
To: HOTTIEBOY
So beautiful - thanks for the ping!
To: sit-rep
It wouldn't be possible for a planet to form. Its too hot. Not even a gas giant could survive.
12
posted on
03/01/2006 1:10:30 PM PST
by
HOTTIEBOY
(The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.)
To: Kaylee Frye
13
posted on
03/01/2006 1:16:53 PM PST
by
HOTTIEBOY
(The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.)
To: HOTTIEBOY
Hmmmm... Well I guess that's that.
Thanks for the info...
14
posted on
03/01/2006 1:17:22 PM PST
by
sit-rep
(If you acquire, hit it again to verify...)
To: meanie monster
15
posted on
03/01/2006 1:17:29 PM PST
by
HOTTIEBOY
(The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.)
To: sit-rep
The density of the gas/dust cloud is very low. It would be considered a fairly good vacuum; however, it would interact with the outer atmosphere of a planet, say, above 50 miles, and probably make the atmosphere unfavorable for the rise of life on the planet.
16
posted on
03/01/2006 1:23:21 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
To: RightWhale
I was just envidioning what it must be like to live near, or in something like that. At night, walk out on the back deck and see this close up...be kinda cool wouldn't it?
17
posted on
03/01/2006 1:28:52 PM PST
by
sit-rep
(If you acquire, hit it again to verify...)
To: RightWhale
envisioning
18
posted on
03/01/2006 1:29:31 PM PST
by
sit-rep
(If you acquire, hit it again to verify...)
To: sit-rep
see this close up From close up it would be less than interesting, just a faint haze in the sky everywhere. Especially, little color: these astronomy images are all processed and colors are kind of unreal. Look at the Andromeda Galaxy: it's just a patch of fog, a cotton ball for color. That's what most all of this stuff actually looks like.
19
posted on
03/01/2006 4:21:28 PM PST
by
RightWhale
(pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
To: HOTTIEBOY
Beautiful star clusters! Pretty colors!
20
posted on
03/01/2006 8:20:44 PM PST
by
phantomworker
(It doesn’t matter what other people think or feel or say. “You are the only person who defines you.")
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